How Could I Make You Stay
by CallMeGeneralAwesome
Summary: Slight AU in which Danny never died, set several years in the future. Danny left unexpectedly and returned in a shocking way, and Clara has to pick up the pieces while also trying to pick up where they left off. Clara/Danny, with Clara/Doctor friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, yadda yadda. I hope you enjoy!**

"What could I have done to make you stay?" Clara asked Danny, voice cracking at the rare show of weakness.

"Nothing," Danny said coolly, without looking into Clara's eyes.

Clara straightened up, wiped her eyes. Cleared her throat. She spoke. "Okay then." She started to gather her things.

Danny sighed. "Don't do that."

"What, leave?" Clara said. "Like you have a leg to stand on on that front."

Danny finally met her gaze with a cold stare.

"I didn't mean…."

"I know what you meant," Danny said. "Don't go."

Clara stopped and turned to him. She didn't speak, though. She was waiting for him to explain himself.

"Clara, I had to go," Danny said. "I had to do this."

"You didn't have to do any of this!" Clara exclaimed. "You chose this. You chose to go. You chose to leave me."

"It isn't that simple…"

"Danny, I committed to you," Clara said. "I did what you wanted. I gave you everything, Danny! I was in this one hundred percent. You didn't have to leave this. You chose to. You chose to back out."

"You don't understand…"

"Of course I don't, because you never talked to me!" Clara said. "You up and left. You left me a voicemail telling me where you'd gone and that was it. Danny what the hell?"

Danny was quiet for a long while. "Please don't go," he said quietly. "Please."

Clara took in the heavy silence in the room. She knew Danny was looking at her, desperate for eye contact, but her eyes scanned the room. Blinds partially obscured the windows, but she could see through them into the dark London night. The machines surrounding Danny were beeping, proving that his heart was still beating. The fluorescent lights buzzed, even though it was so late that everyone else in the hospital wing was sleeping.

Clara took a breath and it hitched in her throat. "Danny what the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know," he said, voice soft and pained. "But right now I'm thinking that I'm scared and hurt and so, so in love with you. I'm thinking that I know it isn't fair, but if I could I'd be on my knees begging you to stay. Please stay, at least for the night. Please."

Clara looked at him through teary eyes. She walked back up to his bedside.

"You're okay," she said. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around him as best as she could. She kissed his forehead and wiped his tears. "You're okay, Danny. It's alright."

He shook in her arms, full-on sobs unlike she'd ever heard from him before. She didn't care that she was tired, she didn't care that she was angry, she didn't care that she was uncomfortable. She stood there, holding him, until he fell asleep, and then for a little longer after that.

 **-DW-**

Clara woke up to the blinds being opened completely and light streaming in.

"It's a sunny day, what a treat," a nurse said to Clara as she saw her waking. "You must be his wife."

Clara sat up in the uncomfortable hospital chair, nodding. "Yeah, I am."

"It took us a while to get in contact with you," the nurse said. "By the time we got a hold of you, he'd been here for three days."

"I was travelling," Clara said.

"Well, you're here now," the nurse said, smiling supportively. She nodded at Danny. "He got really lucky, you know. The injuries that come through here…I've seen a lot worse."

"I know," Clara said, watching the nurse take Danny's vitals.

"The doctor will be in soon for some post-op examination, then later we'll have a physical therapist start on some exercises."

"So soon?" Clara asked. "Is he ready for that?"

The nurse nodded. "Oh, absolutely. He'll be back on his feet in no time."

Clara gave her a look.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said sincerely.

Clara sighed. "It's fine. I did the same thing yesterday."

The nurse smiled appreciatively at Clara's graciousness. She finished taking Danny's vital signs. "If you need anything, hit the button," she said, bowing out of the room.

Clara watched her leave then refocused on Danny. She'd slept huddled awkwardly in the chair, hand in Danny's. Her hand was still in Danny's. She sat up, now unable to go back to sleep, and watched him as he slept.

 **-DW-**

"Clara!" Danny called out in his sleep.

Clara sprang up. "Hey, Danny, I'm here." She squeezed his hand and with her other, stroked his cheek, which always helped to comfort him.

His eyes popped open and he scanned the room immediately, as if he was unsure of where he was.

"I'm here," Clara said in a soothing tone.

Danny took a few deep breaths to settle down. "I'm sorry," he said.

She tried to pick the right words to respond with, but settled on a supportive smile. "The nurse said that you're starting physical therapy today. That's good."

Danny made a not excited face. "Yeah, I'm thrilled."

"You're on the road to recovery," Clara said. "You can get out of here soon."

"Things won't be the same," Danny said.

Clara felt a heaviness in her chest. She knew that he wasn't just talking about the physical therapy. "Don't say that just yet," she said finally. "Work at it and see what happens."

Danny had a slight shine in his eyes. He looked the slightest bit hopeful.

"Your leg will get better," Clara continued, both proud of herself in that moment and ashamed. It was a weird mix. "These are the best doctors in Britain, the nurse said you'd be up and at it in no time."

Danny was silent for a moment, just long enough to be uncomfortable and a bit awkward. "I'm one of the lucky ones," he said. "Guys come home from over there with their legs blown off. I've got mine. Yeah, they had bits of shrapnel in them but they're there."

Clara looked away from him and stared at his hand in hers. "What was it like? When it happened?"

"I don't remember a lot," Danny said. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was patrolling and there were these kids playing with a football. I stopped for a bit to watch them, and a few hundred meters up, an IED went off. I don't know…I don't know what happened to the kids. I was on the ground, bleeding out, and the next thing I knew I was on a plane to here."

Clara didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.

"I tried to ask about them, but no one knew who they were. They were just kids playing around, you know? We weren't meant to keep tabs on them," he said. "I think they're okay, though. I think I saw them run away. They were behind a wall, and I was on the other side of the street and there wasn't a wall on my side. I got hit but the wall could've protected them."

"You saw them run away…" Clara said, wanting Danny to believe that they were alright. She wanted to believe it, too.

"If I hadn't stopped to watch them play, I would have died," Danny said. "I was in a warzone and the only thing that saved my life was a group of kids kicking around a football."

"We can't question why people live and why people die," Clara said. "Trust me, I've seen it. There's no reason why."

"I know," Danny said. "I've seen it too. It's just hard."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a bit. Eventually, a doctor walked in.

"Okay, Mr. Pink, I'm going to take you down for physical therapy," the doctor said. He turned to Clara. "You're welcome to wait up here, Mrs. Pink."

Clara stood up. "I think I'm going to run home, have a shower." She saw the look that Danny was giving her. "I'll be back by the time you're done, though."

Danny smiled. "I'll see you then."

 **-DW-**

Clara walked into their house. It felt like she hadn't been there in a while, even though she was there the night before.

The house felt empty, but it had for a while. It felt empty since Danny left all those months before.

She walked around, seeing the house through new eyes. Now that Danny was back, it felt different. Before he left it felt like their home. After he left, it felt like a hotel, somewhere Clara was only staying in temporarily and like she'd be home soon. Eventually it stopped feeling like she'd be home soon, and more like she wasn't going to be home for a while.

The house wasn't lived-in anymore. Before Danny left, it felt like a family house. Then he left and parts of the house became clearly untouched. There were corners that Clara didn't venture in, rooms that had more traces of him than her, and now just felt empty.

But now that Danny was back, the empty spaces had a weird atmosphere to them, they felt different. It didn't feel like home but it didn't have that hotel feel anymore. It was somewhere in between, like it felt like its fate hadn't been decided yet.

She went to the bathroom and got undressed, then went into a shower that was probably too hot to be comfortable. She stood in there probably longer than she needed to and tried not to think. She took deep breaths and tried to wash the hospital off of her, even though she knew that was pointless because she was going back.

 **-DW-**

"How did physical therapy go?" Clara asked Danny.

"It went fine," he said.

Clara watched him as he ate his lunch. The hospital food did not look appealing.

"Do you want some?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, thank you."

"Come on, have you eaten at all in the past day?" Danny asked. "You should eat something."

"I said no," she said.

There was another silence then Danny spoke. "They want to do physical therapy four times a week but I should be out of here soon," Danny said. "A few days, they think."

"That's good."

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "Once I get walking, I'll be out of here."

"Is there anyone I can call?" Clara asked.

Danny gave her a confused look. "For what?"

"For you," Clara said. "Danny, I'm glad you're okay, I am. But I can't do this."

"What?"

"There is so much between us that isn't resolved and this doesn't change that," Clara said.

"Clara look at me," Danny said. "I'm in the bloody hospital."

"I know," Clara said. "And this isn't easy but I can't be here."

"Where are you going to go?"

"Home," Clara said. "I have work, I have a life. Life went on after you left, Danny."

"Where am I supposed to go?" Danny said. "I'll be out in a few days, where am I supposed to go?"

"I don't…" Clara struggled to say. "I don't know."

"I live with you, Clara," Danny said. "I'm your husband."

"Fine, then come home," Clara said. "Get better, get well then come home."

Danny looked at her for a long moment. "Call my mate, Tom. He's an old army buddy but he lives in London and he runs a sports shop. He'll come round."

"I'll call him," Clara said. She leaned in and kissed Danny's forehead. "I'm really glad that you're alright."

"I love you, Clara."

Clara didn't say anything. She just sort of nodded at him, then left. He watched her go.

 **-DW-**

Clara walked in the front door and heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS. She walked through the house to the living room and saw the Doctor leave the blue box.

"Not right now, Doctor, I'm not in the mood."

"You look like you could use an adventure," the Doctor said.

"No, quite the opposite," Clara said. "I could use things being normal."

"I thought you might say that," the Doctor said. He extended his arm out to her, presenting her with a bottle of red wine.

 _Clara sat in the living room, glass of wine in one hand and phone in the other._

 _The TARDIS sounded and the box appeared in the room._

 _The Doctor walked out and took a look at Clara._

" _Isn't it a bit early for that?" he asked. He looked at the bottle. "You've already gone through half of it."_

 _Clara didn't speak, instead she played a voicemail for the Doctor:_

 _"Hey, Clara, it's me. Danny. I don't know how to tell you this but I re-enlisted a little while ago  
and I got called in to go. So, I'm leaving. I'm on the train now, going to ship out. I'll be back in  
in six months. Clara…I'm sorry. I need to do this. I'm sorry and I love you. I love you so much,  
Clara. Please try to understand that I needed to do this. I told the school that I'd be gone,  
everything is set up. It's only six months, love. I love you. Alright. Goodbye."_

" _I don't understand," the Doctor said._

" _Join the club."_

" _Why did he need to go?"_

 _Clara shook her head. "A mate of his from when he was over there died recently…" she said. "I went with him to the funeral. It was hard but I thought he was okay. I guess I was wrong."_

" _When did he leave?"_

" _Today," Clara said. "I came home and he wasn't here, but I had this voicemail from him."_

" _What are you going to do?" the Doctor asked._

 _Clara shrugged. "I don't know. But for tonight, I'm just going to drink for a while."_

" _Do you want some company?"_

 _Clara gave the Doctor a look. A few years prior, around the time Clara got serious with Danny, she decided to travel a lot less. Sometimes when she travelled, Danny went with them. Sometimes, the Doctor would just come over to hang out. Still, usually she had to ask him to come. He rarely offered._

" _Yeah, sure," Clara said. "I'll get you a glass."_

Clara went into the kitchen and got two glasses.

"So, I'm assuming you've heard about Danny?" Clara asked.

The Doctor nodded as he poured out two glasses.

"Thanks for coming."

"How are you?" the Doctor asked.

"Danny's going to be home in a few days, they think," Clara continued, ignoring the question. "He's going to need a lot of physical therapy for a while, but he'll be okay."

"He's coming here?"

Clara nodded.

"What are you going to do?"

Clara shook her head. "I don't know. I called one of his mates from the army, he's going to take care of him while I'm here. I just needed to get away. I need time to think about everything."

"Are you going to leave him?"

"What?" Clara snapped immediately.

"You know what I mean," the Doctor asked. "Divorce him. Find a new, younger, hotter guy, marry him."

"Of course not!" Clara said.

"Does Danny know that?"

"It's complicated."

"How is it complicated?" the Doctor asked. "The guy gets blown halfway to bits-."

"Stop."

"And you're stringing him along?"

"I said stop!" Clara yelled. "I know he's been through a lot but I'm not just going to forgive him immediately because he almost…because of what happened. That doesn't erase all of our issues from before."

"And what were those issues?"

Clara gave the Doctor an incredulous look. "Are you a therapist now or what?"

"I just want to help."

"I told you, it's complicated. I'm trying to figure it out."

The Doctor kept quiet, knowing that she didn't want him to talk.

"You know, I didn't know for sure that I wouldn't leave Danny until I said it just now," she said. "For the past few months, I've been waiting for him to come home and we could deal with it. I didn't know what would happen. I definitely didn't think that this would happen. But when he left…it just hurt. I thought it could be the end."

"But it isn't?"

"I don't want it to be," Clara admitted. "I love him, Doctor. He's my husband, I want to be with him forever. He's the man I'm supposed to be with, he's the man I'm supposed to have a family with. I don't know how it went wrong."

"It's not all wrong," the Doctor said. "Once I told a friend that life was a pile of good things and a pile of bad things. Just because the bad pile is pretty big, that doesn't mean that the good pile doesn't exist."

Clara lifted her glass. "Here's to the good pile, I guess."

The Doctor touched his glass to Clara's. "Cheers."

 **So this plot just jumped into my brain last night and I liked it a lot. I like Clara and Danny's relationship so I figured this would be a fun AU to kind of throw a wrench in it and see what happens. So, let me know what you think please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two y'all! Get excited!**

Clara put the last of Danny's things into his bag.

"Are you excited to get going?" she asked.

Danny nodded. "Absolutely. I'm sick of this place."

At that moment, the nurse walked in.

"Sorry," Danny said sheepishly. "The nurses and doctors are lovely, I just want to be home."

"Don't worry about it, we hear that a lot," the nurse said. She handed Danny his discharge paperwork. "Fill this out and you'll be all set."

Danny started to fill out the small mountain of paperwork.

Clara set the bag on the bed next to him. "Bag's all packed. Is there anything else I can do?"

"No," Danny said, looking up from the papers for a second. "This won't take long, just hang out for a second."

"Okay," Clara said.

"Are you sure you're okay with me coming home?"

"Danny, of course," Clara said. "You said so yourself, you're my husband. You belong at home with me."

"So you're not angry?" Danny asked, slightly amused.

"No, I'm still very cross with you," Clara said, also in a slightly joking tone. She meant it, though, and he knew that. "I can multitask, though. We can work on getting you better and we can work on getting us better."

"Let's do that," Danny said.

 **-DW-**

"You alright?" Clara asked as she watched Danny move toward the house. He was on crutches but he could move pretty independently.

Except when stairs were involved, that is.

"Yep," Danny said, reaching the three steps in front of the house.

Clara hurried to catch up to him. She went to the top of the stairs and extended and hand down to him.

"Here," she said.

"Thanks," he replied, taking her hand and using it help himself up the stairs.

They made it inside. Clara put Danny's bags down and then turned to him.

"Do you want to be set up in here or in the bedroom?"

"Here's fine," Danny said. "If you'll come join me."

Clara gave him a look, like _Nice try._

"I'm going to throw your clothes in the laundry," Clara said. "And get started on lunch. Take a nap or watch telly or something. I think your club is playing today."

"Come on, all that can wait," Danny said.

Clara was already walking into the kitchen. "Does soup sound good for lunch?"

Danny laughed a bit. "Yeah, that's fine."

Clara paused for a second. It had been months since she heard him laugh. She smiled a little bit, despite herself.

Danny, out of her sight in the lounge, smiled to himself too. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed with Clara. Having Tom around for the last few days was really good for him. He knew that Clara needed time away from him and if he was being honest, he knew he needed time away from her, too. Tom was a good friend who really helped him. It had been a little over a week since he came back and he felt good.

 **-DW-**

Clara sat at the end of the couch, with Danny sitting up and leaning against her. He had his feet spread across the couch.

"It's good to eat food that isn't from a mess hall or a hospital," Danny said.

"I imagine so," Clara replied.

"Thank you for letting me come home," Danny said.

"Don't thank me," Clara said. "I'm not doing you some huge favor, you belong here."

"Still, I hurt you pretty badly when I left," Danny said.

Clara froze. Danny could see her tighten her jaw, a sign that she was getting emotional.

"Yeah, you did," Clara agreed.

"And to leave so soon after what happened…"

"I don't want to talk about that," Clara said.

"How have you been?" Danny asked.

"In the past week or in the past four months?"

"Either," Danny said. "Both."

"The last week has been hard but I reckon you've had a worse go of it," Clara said, earning a small chuckle from Danny. "And the last four months were really hard. I tried to understand why you'd gone and I even started to understand. But I never understood why you went how you did. I never understood why you couldn't talk to me about it and why you ran off. You didn't even tell me in person, Danny. You left me a voicemail."

Danny stared stoically into the distance. It'd been months and he still felt guilt.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep in the beginning," Clara said. "You know how I am, when I'm upset or hurt I stay up and do things I shouldn't. I must've listened to that voicemail a hundred times."

"Why?" Danny asked.

"The worst part of it was that you weren't mean at all," Clara said. "You made it very clear how much you loved me. But it was also clear that I wasn't what you needed and that hurt."

"I do need you, Clara," Danny said. "If I learned anything in these past few months, it was that I need you."

"You chose to go to a warzone rather than stay with me, Danny."

"You didn't answer my calls when I was gone," Danny said. "Were you punishing me?"

Clara took a moment to think, but her answer was her admission. "A bit."

Danny nodded. "I deserve that."

"No, you don't," Clara said. Danny looked up at her. "Or you do, I don't know. I didn't know what you were going to say. I didn't know what I would say. That scared me."

"But you emailed," Danny said.

"I could spend hours planning what to say," Clara said. "Phone calls put you on the spot. I didn't want to say anything I'd regret."

Danny finished his soup and put the empty bowl on the coffee table. He nestled his head closer to Clara.

"What would you have said if I had answered your calls?" Clara asked.

"I don't know," Danny admitted. "I just needed to hear your voice. The way I left things and the way things were over there….you just need to hear from the people you love, you know? And I understand why you didn't answer, I do."

Clara sighed as she put her bowl down as well. She started running a hand through Danny's short hair. "I don't want to punish you. That's not us, that's never been us."

"I feel like I deserve it, though," Danny said. "I don't understand why I did what I did but I don't regret it. Even though I know how badly it hurt you."

Clara was quiet for a while. She tried to wipe away a tear without Danny noticing, but he saw anyway.

"I know that I'll never understand what it is like for you to have been over there," she started. "You can tell me everything that's happened and I still won't truly understand what you and your mates went through over there. So I suppose I'll never understand the things you need to do to get through it."

"I should've told you," Danny said. "I should've told you when I re-enlisted, I should've told you that I was shipping out."

"Yeah, you should've," Clara said. "We could've dealt with it then, rather than waiting four months."

"I was scared to admit that I was doing this," Danny said. "I knew that I couldn't explain myself and so I didn't want to. I avoided it. I hid from it."

"We can't change it," Clara said. "We just have to go forward."

 **-DW-**

Clara wrapped a towel around herself and opened the bathroom door. After living alone for four months, she wasn't used to having Danny back.

"Oh!" she yelled as she walked into the hallway and saw Danny there.

"Sorry!" Danny said. "Did I surprise you?"

Clara nodded. "What are you doing up?" she asked. "How did you get up?"

"I got myself up," he said. "And the doctor said to walk around a few times a day, get blood flowing. I'm going to start my home physical therapy exercises in a bit, too."

"Okay," Clara said. "Let me get dressed then I'll get you set up."

Danny took in Clara for the first time in that conversation. She didn't have any makeup on, her hair was wet and a mess, and she was wrapped in just a towel. She was already short but without any shoes on, she looked even shorter. He always loved how Clara looked, no matter what, but once they got married he discovered that his favorite looks for her where how she looked around the house. Without makeup on, without any clothes, not in a sexual way, just in the way that this was her in her simplest form. This was Clara with her guard down. She wasn't trying to look taller or bigger or older, she was herself. Danny missed that.

Clara noticed that Danny was basically just staring at her and she fidgeted with her towel, trying to cover herself more. She'd always been comfortable and confident in her body, makeup or not, but it still had been months since she'd been around Danny.

"Go get dressed," Danny said. "I think I'm going to do another lap up and down the hallway, then do my exercises."

"I'll be right back," Clara said.

Danny started heading back down the hall. He came to a closed door.

"Is this room clear?" he asked, pushing the door open slightly.

"No!" Clara practically yelled as she practically ran in front of him and shut the door. "Don't go in there!"

Danny's face fell. "Clara…"

"Just…don't go in there," she said.

"We need to talk about that," Danny said.

"That is the last thing we need to talk about," Clara said, pointing at the door.

"Clara this isn't healthy."

"Let me handle it," she said.

"Let you handle it?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I'll leave you a voicemail letting you know I'm dealing with it."

Danny made a shocked face.

"You're right, we have other things to talk about," he said.

Clara's face fell. "Danny, wait."

"Get dressed," he called behind himself as he turned from her and the door and went down the hall. "We're not going to get through this in a day. It's going to take time and there is a lot going on. Get dressed and do whatever you do, and I'll do what I'm supposed to do."

 **-DW-**

Clara stood in the kitchen, finishing up some laundry. Through the door she could see Danny doing his physical therapy. She could hear him, too. He was breathing hard and clearly was in pain.

She felt bad about how she snapped at him before. They had so much to work through and her snapping at him wasn't helping anything. She didn't know what to say to him to make it better. She hadn't know what to say to him for months.

She looked around her kitchen. Her eyes fell upon the phone. It felt weird to have a landline phone still, but it came in handy.

" _See you next week, Doctor," Clara said._

" _Are you sure you want to come every week?" he asked. "We went away for a while this time. Maybe take a break."_

 _Clara stopped and turned to look at him. "Are you sending me away?"_

" _No," the Doctor said. "I'm just saying that running away isn't good for you."_

 _Clara waved her finger at him, pointing him out. "This whole supportive, advice-giving, all-knowing best friend thing is weird."_

 _The Doctor smirked. "As an all-knowing being, let me tell you that doing this won't make it better. It won't make it easier. Trust me."_

" _I do trust you," Clara said. "And I'm not running. With Danny gone, I have more time for this. I've missed this."_

" _You're welcome any time," the Doctor said._

 _Clara smiled. "Thank y-."_

" _Except when I don't want you around and when I'm busy," he said. "And when you're running from your problems."_

 _Clara rolled her eyes. "There you are."_

" _Go on now, go home," the Doctor said. "I'll see you next week."_

 _Clara left the TARDIS. "Bye!" she called over her shoulder._

 _She put her bag down and walked into the kitchen. It was weird, while she traveled with the Doctor, basic needs like sleep and food tended to fall to the wayside. As soon as she'd get home, though – especially after a long trip – she'd immediately feel the sleepiness and hunger that she'd been putting off._

 _So, she set herself about making some food. She noticed the phone and its blinking red light, signaling that she had messages._

 _She pressed the button and played them while she made her food._

" _Hello, I'm calling for Clara Pink," came a voice from the machine. "I'm from London General Hospital. Give us a call back at your earliest convenience, this is a rather urgent matter."_

" _That was weird," Clara said to herself as she heard the machine start to play the next message._

" _Hello, I'm calling again for Clara Pink," the same voice said. "I phoned yesterday about an urgent matter here at London General Hospital. I can't disclose the matter until you phone us back, so please ring us at this number. Thank you."_

 _Clara felt herself start to become concerned. She'd been to that hospital before, but that was months prior to this. She didn't know why they'd be calling and she was starting to get scared._

 _There was another message with the same information in it from that day, so she called the number they gave._

" _Hello, this is Clara Pink," she said nervously. "I've been getting phone calls from this number, saying there is an urgent matter regarding me at the hospital?"_

" _One moment please, let me transfer you to the proper department."_

" _Thanks," Clara said, starting to pace her kitchen floor as she listened to the hold music._

" _Hello, Critical Care Department," came a voice after what was probably a minute or so but felt like a long while._

" _Hi!" Clara said, starting to panic a bit. "This is Clara Pink, I had a message from this hospital on my phone."_

" _Yes, hello Mrs. Pink," the voice said. "I'm a nurse here, my name is Joan Murphy. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but we have your husband here with us."_

 _Clara immediately felt like she'd been punched in the chest._

" _What?" she asked. "No, he's overseas, he's in the army. He's not in London."_

" _I'm afraid there was an accident when he was with the army," the nurse said. "They transferred him here. He's been here for three days now and he was in hospital over there for a night. He was stable enough to come home so we performed surgery on him here."_

" _Oh my stars…" Clara said. She leaned against the counter, unable to hold herself up anymore. "What happened? Is he alright?"_

" _He was hit with shrapnel from an explosion," the nurse explained. "We performed surgery and were able to save his legs, though he had severe damage. The doctor will be able to explain more once you come round."_

" _Yes, of course, I'll come now," Clara said. "He's going to be alright, though, yeah?"_

" _You'll need to talk to the doctor when you arrive," the nurse said. "Mr. Pink is awake, though. He's been asking for you."_

" _Thank you," Clara said, then ended the phone call. She slid down against the counter, so that she was sitting on the floor. Before she could stop herself, she was sobbing._

 _She managed to control it after a few minutes, though. She stood up, wiped her eyes, grabbed her keys, and left._

The red light on the phone wasn't blinking anymore. Clara had listened to the messages and no one else really called the landline, except her father sometimes when he couldn't reach her on her mobile phone. All in all, though, she'd be very happy if she never had to listen to another voicemail or answering machine message again.

 **-DW-**

Clara sat on the floor facing Danny, who sat up on the couch. He had his legs almost straight out, so that his feet were on the floor but his legs weren't touching the couch.

"Ready?" Clara asked him.

Danny nodded, and Clara began to as-gently-as-possible remove the dressing from his legs.

Despite her caution, Danny winced.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, wanting to do it as quickly as possible but not wanting to hurry and hurt him more.

"No, it's fine," Danny said, almost hissing.

"Yeah, you sound fine."

"It just stings."

"I'm almost done," Clara said. And soon, she was done. "There."

"Now the real fun begins," Danny said. He handed Clara a tube of ointment. "The doctor said don't use too much, just enough to cover the wounds."

"Yep, I remember," Clara said. "He also said it would sting, too, so let me know if I need to stop or slow down."

"It's fine, just get it over with."

Clara nodded and started. Danny let out a few pained breaths as Clara applied the medicine.

"What is this stuff, anyway?" Clara said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's this new substance," Danny replied, wincing. "It's meant to prevent infection while also promoting muscle and tissue regeneration. Basically it'll make my legs heal faster."

"Sounds like science fiction," Clara replied. "Like a miracle goo that'll magically regrow tissue."

Danny laughed. "Yeah, a bit, actually. I kind of feel like a lab experiment, to be honest."

Clara smiled as she started to apply clean bandages.

"And I am starting to feel like a mummy," Danny added.

Clara laughed. "Well, if the bandages fit…"

Danny laughed as well but didn't say anything else.

"So how did your exercises go?"

"They went well," Danny said. "I did them in here and it was fine. I had plenty of room."

Clara felt a little pang of guilt. "Danny, about before…"

"You were right, we don't need to talk about it now."

"No, we don't," Clara agreed. "But that doesn't excuse my behavior. I've been thinking, and I think I just wasn't ready for you to be back yet."

Danny made a face like he was surprised by that and also a little hurt.

"You're back a lot sooner than I thought you'd be," Clara said. "And you came back hurt. There is a lot happening right now that I need to deal with."

"Clara, it's been months…"

"I know," Clara said.

"You should be better by now."

"Are you better?" Clara asked. "Are you completely over it, like it never happened?"

"Of course not," Danny said. "It takes time. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Clara paused to think. "I'm working on it," she said finally.

"You don't have to work on it alone," Danny said. "I'm here. When I'm better, I can help you clean out the room."

"That'd be good," Clara said. "We'll do it together."

Clara had finished applying the bandages, so Danny readjusted his sitting position so he was more comfortable. He left enough room on the couch for Clara to sit with him.

"Sit with me," he said.

Clara sat next to him. Danny put an arm around her and she didn't pull away. In fact, she leaned into his shoulder a bit.

"Does that hurt?"

Danny shook his head. "No, it's fine. It feels good."

"I want us to get through this," Clara said. "I don't know how we'll do it. There is so much for us to get through."

"We'll do it," Danny said. "I promise."

"I am sorry about before," Clara said.

"You don't need to apologize."

"Yes I do," Clara said. "We both got ourselves in this situation. There were parts of this that we couldn't control and parts that we did to ourselves. I did things wrong too. I have a lot of fault in this."

"What happened before I left wasn't your fault, Clara."

"Maybe it's not, but that's not what I'm talking about," Clara said. "How I handled what happened, how I pushed you away, that contribute to this. What happened happened to us, not just me. I'm sorry I was so selfish."

"You weren't selfish," Danny said. "I don't know how we were supposed to handle it. I don't know how we were supposed to handle any of it."

"I'm better," Clara said. "I really am."

"I'm glad."

"Are you better?" Clara asked. "You left because you needed to go find whatever it was you were missing. Did you find what you needed?"

"I think so."

"I'm glad," Clara said.

They were both quiet for a few moments. Then, they both spoke at once.

"There's something I need-." Clara started.

"I love you," Danny said.

Clara's expression softened. "I love you too."

"Sorry to cut you off, I just needed to say it. I know things aren't good right now but you're making them better. You're giving us a chance to make it better together. So, thank you. And I love you."

"I love you too."

Danny smiled. "So, what were you going to say?"

"Nothing," Clara said.

"You sounded like you needed to tell me something."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you, my dad is coming tomorrow."

"What?"

"He'd been planning to visit for a while and with everything that's been happening, it just slipped my mind. He called me earlier to remind me."

"Does he know about everything?"

Clara shook her head.

Danny sighed a bit. "Well, he's going to be in for a bit of a shock."

"We'd have to tell him eventually," Clara said. "He loves you, you know that."

"I bet he's not real fond of me right now."

"He'll get over it," Clara said.

"Did he visit a lot when I was gone?"

"More often than usual, but not a whole lot," Clara said. "We wouldn't really talk a lot. I didn't want to talk about anything so he'd do all the talking. He's been renovating the house. He's sent some pictures, it looks really good."

Danny still didn't look excited about his father-in-law coming.

"Let's just get it over with, okay?" Clara said. "It's not like I can tell him not to come, he'll know something is going on. I'll explain it to him when I pick him up."

Danny yawned, he couldn't help himself.

"You should get some sleep."

"No, I'm good," Danny said. "I don't want to sleep yet."

"Okay," Clara said. "How about a movie? It's a Friday night, there must be a movie on telly somewhere."

Danny nodded in agreement and handed Clara the remote control. He watched as she tried to find something good to watch. He smiled. The past week, the past few months, the past year had been unbelievably difficult for them. He knew that they had a lot of work to do, but for the first time he really, truly believed that they'd be alright.

 **So that's the end of this chapter. Please leave a review letting me know what you think!**


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